Benefits of USRSA Digital Membership
Membership gets you connected to the most up-to-date information for racquet sports professionals and enthusiasts!
Products and Benefits Include:
- RacquetTECH.com
- The industry’s most up-to-date and interactive source on racquet sports technology. Your own private association website covering all aspects of racquet sports equipment.
- Digital subscription to Racquet Sports Industry magazine (more information | website)
- Racquet Sports Industry magazine is filled with the latest stringing news and industry information you won’t find anywhere else. Annual memberships include a free digital subscription.
- Special Discounts (U.S. members only)
- Exclusive discount offers from more than a dozen leading manufacturers and suppliers. You can also participate in product testing and new product development — and gain a valuable edge on your competition.
- Marketing Tools
- A membership certificate, member card, window decal, racquet labels, and racquet claim checks are all available at low membership prices, and show customers your committment to excellence.
- Professional Certification
- Become a Master Racquet Technician (MRT) or Certified Stringer through USRSA’s unique professional development program. These programs are recognized industry-wide and are backed by some of the biggest names in the game.
- Private Instructor Stringing Lessons
- Take a lesson from one of our MRT instructors or become an instructor yourself and earn $$.
- Automatic membership in the Grommets Network
- One of the most vexing problems facing stringers is that of finding bumperguards and grommet strips for discontinued racquets. In the “olden days,” a piece of tape was the bumperguard, and there was no grommet strip. When the racquet wore out, it had to be replaced. Today, racquets can last virtually forever if properly cared for, but the bumperguard and grommet strip will eventually wear out or fail. If the manufacturer no longer sells a bumperguard and grommet strip you need, a simple e-mail to our Grommets Network puts you in touch with thousands of other USRSA members, many of whom have bumperguards and grommet kits to sell.
- Automatic membership in the Racquets Network
- Do you have customers who think “they don’t make ‘em like they used to”? They may be correct, but what happens when the time comes to purchase another racquet like the one they’ve come to know and love, and it hasn’t been manufactured in years? All you need to do is e-mail the Racquet Network to contact thousands of USRSA members … and their collections of older racquets. Who knows, maybe you’ll even find buyers for some of your old racquets.
- Automatic membership in the Strings Network
- Even though string offerings do seem to be getting better with each passing year, the down side is that sometimes perfectly wonderful strings disappear off the market. The Strings Network helps you find your favorite discontinued strings.
RacquetTECH.com
Tools and information to help you get the right equipment for the right reasons for the right person (you). RacquetTECH.com offers awareness, understanding and skills. These translate to fun and performance. For more information, try our special Racquet Selector/Customizer Demo.
Racquet Selection Online-Software: Can you keep track of all the possible combinations of weight, balance, swingweight, length, flex, price, headsize and power of over 400 racquets and how each racquet compares to every other and how all of that compares to your desires of what you want from a racquet? This tool can. It is the only comprehensive, objective and accurate method for choosing a racquet available. Without this tool, choosing a racquet is like throwing blind at a dart board.
String Selection Online-Software: Having a space-age racquet does no good if you make a dinosaur-brain choice of strings. Strings are the most important part of the racquet, but there has never been a way to compare strings, let alone make intelligent decisions about them based on thorough knowledge of all the properties of each string. The String Selector does for strings what the Racquet Selector does for racquets. It compares every string’s material, diameter, stiffness, and tension loss with every other string and compares the results to your performance desires. It then recommends strings that meet your criteria.
Racquet Customization Online-Software: Almost every racquet can and should be customized for individual performance optimization. Customization involves adding specific amounts of weight (lead tape) to specfic locations anywhere along the entire length of the racquet in order to change a racquet’s weight, balance, swingweight, sweetspot, power, and shock absorbtion. The Customizer calculates the effect upon each of the these performance properties of adding any amount of weight to any of three simultaneous locations along the racquet. This is rocket science, and that is why, in the past, you have been stuck with whatever racquet you picked off the shelf.
Technology Articles: Can you say, “Co-polymer matrix, ” or “Graphite-titanium matrix,” or “Piezoelectricity”? If so, can you explain them or understand them? Do you know what all the adverizing gobblygook really means? Do you know what each racquet and string manufacturer is selling as a technology, how it works, why it works, and if it works? Our technical staff of experts, engineers, and scientists explain it for you. No where else can you get the story behind the story.
How-To Articles: Equipment stringing, customizing, marketing, servicing, selling, and promoting are all discussed in our Tips and Techniques articles library.
Racquet Technician Locater: Selecting the right racquet and string and customizing the racquet can all become a fruitless enterprise if the strings are not installed properly. For those who “don’t try this at home,” the Find A Stringer tool locates a technician trained to install the strings at the proper tension and with the proper technique to maximize performance.
String Pattern Digest and Encyclopedia: Every technician/stringer/do-it-yourselfer needs to know what and how to do it. The On-line Stringer’s Digest searches and finds the correct pattern for your racquet from the over 6,000 racquets in its database.
The Racquet Service Techniques: A complete step-by-step guide to stringing, servicing, and customizing racquets. This publication also includes certification study materials.
Stringing Machine Selector: Whether you’re stringing 4,000 racquets a year, or just 1, you want to do it on the best machine for your needs. The reviews, data, and Machine Selector software make this decision a painless and informative process.
Product Finder: Can’t find a product, part or service? Product Finder will find it for you.
Up-to-date Product Introductions: What’s coming? What’s new and exciting? Find out here first.
Equipment Testing, Reviews and Playtests: So you know what’s coming…who cares? Find out here.
MORE: There’s more and there’s more planned — and we are adding stuff all the time.
Digital subscription to Racquet Sports Industry magazine
The only magazine covering the racquet sports industry. Racquet Sports Industry magazine provides unmatched coverage of the business, equipment, apparel, and racquet service of tennis, racquetball, squash, badminton, and pickleball. Subscriptions includes 10 issues per year filled with the kind of stories and information about racquet sports that can’t be found anywhere else. Regular features and columns include:
Industry News — stories and announcements about changes happening every day in the racquet sports companies
Product Introduction & Reviews — the only place to hear about all the new racquets, strings, footwear, apparel, and accessory products being introduced each year
Business & Economy — articles and stories about how to succeed in the racquet sports business
Court Coverage — coverage of court manufacturing and maintenance that can’t be found anywhere else
Racquet Sports Science — articles explaining and de-mystifying the simple and complicated subjects that make our sports work
Tips & Techniques — tips about business and racquet service techniques presented by USRSA members to make your life easier
Ask the Experts — a column designed to answer questions asked by our readers
Your Finances — a how-to business column for running a racquet sports business
By the Numbers — reporting and analysis of the industry’s financial ups and downs
Calendar — a listing of upcoming events in the racquet sports industry
Your Serve — articles with suggestions to improve your business
Playtest Reviews — reports of the results of our playtest teams’ blind testing of new strings, grips, & overgrips
Stringing Machine Reviews — reviews of new stringing machines
Pro Equipment Logs — reports of what equipment is being used by the top players at each of the grand slams
Special Discounts (U.S. members only)
Existing discounts for our members are as follows:
| Company | Contact | Discount for all members | Discount for MRTs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpha | 800-922-9024 | 10% discount on all Alpha strings and Alpha grips (based on first column pricing). | 3% discount on Alpha machines over $1,000. |
| Ashaway | 800-556-7260 | 5% discount off earned price on string. | |
| Golden Set | 866-865-3202 | 10% off on all strings and 5% off on all grips. | |
| Gosen | 424-999-8683 | Wholesale pricing for all USRSA members on all string sets and reels. | |
| Head | 800-289-7366 | 11% off wholesale prices on Accessories (excluding bags), Stringing Machine, and Racquet Diagnostic Center | 15% off wholesale prices on Accessories (excluding bags), Stringing Machine, and Racquet Diagnostic Center |
| Tourna | 800-554-3707 | 20% off Tourna Strings, 10% off grips, hoppers, accessories, and stringing machines. | |
| Ytex | 843-816-1440 | Wholesale pricing on all string sets and reels, no minimum order. | |
There is no need for a special code to take advantage of these discounts. You identify yourself as a USRSA member and give them your member number so they can verify your membership.
Finally, you may qualify to participate in product testing and new product development — and gain a valuable edge on your competition.